The Cave Pixies
by The Optimistic Scholar
Summary: No. 2 in the Triple Threat series-Its spring vacation and what better way for the Possible family to spend it than a camping trip with the Stoppable family? There's nothing like fresh air, delicious camp food, and nights out under the stars. And everyone can't wait until the big trip into Middleton Caves.


"We are Pixies, tried and true. Pixies are for me and you." Kim Possible, clad in her old Pixie Scouts uniform, chanted from the head of the column of people. The "column" was in fact a pre-teen girl, two younger six year old girls, and a woman slightly older than Kim. What made the woman unique was her pale complexion, with hints of green in her skin. The complexion was shared by the older girl and one of the younger girls. Everyone in the group however, Kim considered to be the center on which her whole world turned. The older woman bringing up the rear was in fact Shego Possible, Kim's loving wife of almost thirteen years, and still so hopelessly in love. Behind Kim was their oldest daughter Gracie Anne, auburn hair slightly darker than her mom's in a pair of pigtails and clad in a Pixie scout uniform also but with far less badges, the little bundle of joy whose conception brought Kim and Shego.

Behind Gracie were her two sisters, the twins Zoë and Emily. Almost seven years ago, during a mission with Ron, Shego had made the epic discovery of another device capable of impregnating Kimmie with Shego's child. Their dream for a big family had finally been realized and 9 months later, Gracie had twin baby sisters. Zoë was a complete duplicate of Shego, pale green complexion and all. Lastly was Emily; having her Momma's face, Emily had a rosy complexion just like Kim. What was truly unique however was that Shego's altered genetics from the meteor strike that gave her and her brothers their powers had given Emily a natural mossy green hair color. Walking through the woods in her Pixie Scout uniform, Emily gave off the image of an actual pixie.

The only absent party was Abby, the girls' nanny and the family body guard. Crushed as she was to miss the family camping trip, Abby's sweetheart Brendan O'Sullivan had found himself in the area and the pair had decided Abby needed to take a little vacation time.

"Through ice and snow and wind and rain," The girls happily chanted along with their mommy.

"This song is such an awful pain!" FOUR…FREAKING…TIMES! Shego had been forced to hear that fracking chant FOUR times. The older woman rubbed her temples as they soldiered on to their destination.

"I HEARD that honorary Pixie Scout Momma," Kim warned, glaring back at her wife. Initially, when Kim had broached the subject of enrolling the girls in Pixie Scouts, Shego had been incredibly enthusiastic, especially when it came to the survival skills that the girls would learn. But EVERY meeting…EVERY trip…even in her sleep, she was hearing that infernal song. If this kept up, Shego was having serious concerns about her mental stability.

"Yeah Momma," Gracie looked back, scolding the older woman. "Sing it right or I'll tell Abby I want to join the Federation!"

Dammit, no daughter of HERS would be suckered into that cheesy joke. Even so, Shego couldn't help but laugh. Though at the age of 12, Gracie was every inch the Star Wars fanatic that her Momma was, she knew very well how much her Momma and Abby fought over what was better, Star Wars or Star Trek. Because of that, Gracie knew exactly how to good naturedly push her Momma's buttons.

"No daughter of mine will be seduced by a two bit captain with a bad haircut," Shego growled, still smiling at her oldest daughter. "But can't we PLEASE sing something else? ANYTHING but the Pixie scout song for…what…the FOURTH time today?"

"Okay…for four boxes of muffins, we can sing something else," This was what Shego got for all that teasing during her pregnancies. "Take it or leave it."

"Are you kidding?" Shego gasped from the end of the line. "I'll buy EIGHT boxes if I never have to hear that song for the rest of this trip."

"YAY," Zoë cheered from the middle. "Momma's gonna buy our muffins!"

"Deal," Kim turned back to the trail ahead. "So Miss Fussy Britches, what would YOU like to sing…and it had better be appropriate for Pixies!"

"Can we sing the kookoo bird song?" Emily chimed up. Good Grief! Of all the things the girls had to inherit from Kimmie, why did one of them have to be that ghastly puppy dog pout? She couldn't no. She just could not withstand that look from either her wife or her daughters.

"Sweetie, do you mean the Kookaburra Song?" If there were any justice in the world, Shego wouldn't have been the only one who constantly succumbed to that damn look.

"Yeah Momma," Emily answered excitedly. "I wanna sing that one!"

"Okay then Pixies," Kim called out. "And a one, and a two…"

_Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree_

_Merry, Merry King of the Bush is he_

_Laugh Kookaburra, laugh. Kookaburra, gay your life must be_

They sang through all three versus, passing the time and distance rather quickly. After the Kookaburra song, Shego went through her rendition of 'Werewolves of London' by Warren Zevon, chasing her daughters each time she howled, eliciting a chorus of giggles and screams as they sped past Kim, trying to escape their Momma's grasp. Kim ordered them back into line and then Gracie, the aspiring singer, went through the Middleton Middle School Choir's rendition of 'The Little Beggerman'. Gracie and her friends Jimmy Fiddler, Billy Murphy, and Mary Stewart really seemed to have taken a liking to Celtic Music. Kim, Shego, and Abby would now reliably hear bagpipes and fiddles blaring from Gracie's room. Gracie had also begun begging her mothers to let her take dance lessons with Mary, both girls wanting to learn to step dance.

Two miles were covered in next to no time and their campsite within the Middleton State Forest was within sight. It was a very picturesque spot nestled between Ash Creek and the Middleton Caves. The spot was popular for family camping trips and was often used by the Pixie scouts for earning their badges. Two other tents were already up another family was in the process of setting up their own site. Ron Stoppable was easily recognizable as he was piling firewood for the coming trip, as were Yori Stoppable and their son Ronald Jr., both carrying up jugs of water. The kids were all spring vacation and neither of the families could see why the Possible girls couldn't earn a few merit badges while both families had a wonderful vacation together. The girls adored their Uncle Ron and Aunt Yori and Ronnie was equally loving towards his Aunt Kim and Aunt Shego.

"OH NO," Ron gave a mock cry of shock. "Our campsite's been invaded by PIXIES…and a Jolly Green Giantess."

Shego's hand was ignited and an extremely low level plasma ball was lobbed in the man's direction, strong enough to make him stumble backwards but nowhere near strong enough to actually hurt anyone or ignite anything on fire. "For YOUR information Stoppable, I'm an honorary Pixie Scout!"

Forget what Mommy said! The girls broke ranks and made a beeline for Uncle Ron. Kim felt a pang of regret that their Aunt Monique couldn't be here also but she'd been on the fast track at Club Banana and had recently been promoted to Regional Sales Director and was up to her ears in work. The combined weight of the three threw Ron to the ground.

"Oh no," Ron laughed, not putting up any fight. "I've fallen. The Pixies have captured me and will force me to give up my treasures."

Did he say TREASURES? Every Possible girl knew that "treasures" was Uncle Ron's code for "presents". They climbed off and Ron led them over to the Polaris Ranger 900 that he'd driven his family up in. Inside one of the side hatches was a simply sack. First, Ron turned to the twins, pulling two small boxes out. As per tradition, Zoë and Emily had their eyes closed and hands held out, trembling with anticipation. Ron placed one of the boxes in each of their hands. When told to open their eyes, the girls tore open the boxes and inside was a sage green compass attached to a leather cord, almost an exact duplicate of the one around Gracie's neck, only hers was brown.

"Now, no matter where you girls are, you can find your way home," Ron replied, pulling both girls into a hug as they expressed their thanks.

"I swear Ron, you are going to spoil our girls rotten," Kim barked. Not much emotion in it though. The scene before her was just adorable

Ron took a deep breath through his nose while the girls were still close. "Nope; nothing rotten here. All I smell is sugar, spice, and everything nice."

"Oh Good GRIEF!" Shego groaned. Could Ronald Stoppable be MORE of a dorky dad? How did Yori stand it?

"What about me Uncle Ron?" Gracie inquired.

"Don't worry munchkin," Ron smiled, tousling Gracie's hair. He reached into the sack and pulled out the last gift, much thinner and smaller than the boxes containing the triplets' compasses. Ron was just glad that Wade had completed the finishing touches in time for the trip. Gracie opened the box. "Now you know that a world saver lives and dies by their gadgets. Well, this is a gadget that no world saver can do without."

While all of the adults recognized it as some kind of multi-tool, Gracie wasn't exactly sure what it was she was holding. Seeing her confusion, Ron took the handle and opened it up, exposing a pair of pliers as well as an array of other gadgets hidden within the sides. It had every tool that you would need to survive in the outdoors. After seeing the final product, Ron had to admit that Wade's suggestion of letting him upgrade it was a good move. Uncle Ron closed up the tool and pressed one of the two buttons on the side. There was a buzzing and a glowing blue shovel materialized out from the handle. Pressing the button again made the shovel disappear. Pressing the button on the other side of the handle made a hammer materialize out of the other end.

"WOW," Gracie gasped, taking the tool in her hands. "This is AWESOME!"

"Uncle Wade really out did himself," Kim walked up and wrapped her arm around her daughter. "You've got to make sure you thank him."

After more greetings with Yori and cousin Ronnie, all but Shego were in "Pixie mode". First up, Zoë and Emily would be earning their Hermit badge. If they could set up a campsite themselves, including setting up the tent, digging a fire pit, and digging a latrine, the badge was in the bag. The girls had been practicing since the snow melted. An afternoon didn't go by without them setting up a tent…and unfortunately there were so many holes in the backyard of the Possible house that it looked like a gopher with steroids had been unleashed. Both girls took part in setting up the tents, Emily set up the fire pit, Zoë dug the latrine on the far side of the campsite, and both set up their food stores and got their water. Shego and Gracie were setting Kim and Shego's tent and took time to admire the twins' progress. The younger Possible daughters had done quite well and high fived each other in triumph.

"When do we get to earn or Salamander badges?" Zoë asked Kim excitedly. "I wanna start a fire."

_Oh, there's something every parent wants to hear_, Kim thought to herself as she rolled her eyes at her daughter that was the complete mirror of her wife. "Honey, we don't need any fires until we have to cook dinner." Kim's watch read 4:15 which meant that they wouldn't need a cook fire for about two hours. Zoë looked so downcast however that Pixie leader just couldn't stand it anymore. "I'll tell you what though," She pulled her daughter close to her and smiled. "You can go first tonight. You and I will go take a walk and look for some good firewood. Uncle Ron already has lots…but why can't we use it?"

"Because nobody works harder than a PIXIE!" Zoë cheered.

THAT was her girl! Kim hefted the six year old onto her shoulders. "Everybody, the little fire starter and I are going to go for a little walk to look for firewood. We'll be back in time for dinner."

Gracie was busy showing Uncle Ron how to construct a pit oven while trying out her new tool. Shego spotted Emily by the river, of course with Ronnie, and Ronnie was teaching her to skip stones on the river. All of the other Possible girls were occupied so no one would feel left out. Shego waved them off and returned to watching Emily and Ronnie. Most girls Emily's age would say boys were yucky. Bug Emily Abigail Possible? She left no confusion in the matter. Ronnie Stoppable was her boyfriend and she was going to marry him. Whenever the two families were together, Emily Possible and Ronnie Stoppable were always together.

The same could be said of Gracie and little Billy Murphy. Gracie however denied that Billy was anything but a friend, much to Kim's amusement.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Yori elbowed the older woman in the ribs, gazing protectively and her firstborn son. The pair of mothers set up camp chairs around the larger fire pit and plopped down, sipping at bottled waters fresh from the cooler. "Ronnie was talking about this trip for weeks."

Even on vacation, both women couldn't resist a little shoptalk. Yori often volunteered for events at the school and was a very active member of the Middleton Public Schools PTA. There was an election to the Middleton School Board coming up and with the help of their friend Lori Murphy, Yori was gearing up to run.

"How does Gracie like middle school?" Yori asked, peeking back at her oldest niece.

"Oh, she loves it," Shego began digging around in her bag for a pair of sunglasses. "She loves singing and now she wants Kim and me to sign her up for dance classes. Eh, I suppose it's better than her wanting to pursue cheerleading."

Yori let out a chuckle at that. Kim had been the captain of the Cheerleading team before her pregnancy with Gracie and Ron had been the Middleton Mad Dog, the school mascot. Despite all of these things, at this point in life, Shego was adamant about her daughters NEVER become cheerleaders. Critics of same-sex couples raising children didn't think that the children had appropriate father or mother figures. But Shego Possible? Anyone around the older woman for five minutes would believe that claim was utter crap, being more overprotective of her daughters' honor than any father Yori had ever met. And Yori was from JAPAN!

True to their word, Kim and Zoë had returned with armfuls of dry wood and kindling, about the time when everyone was getting hungry. Since the girls were working on their merit badges, everyone gathered around the fire pit that Emily had dug. Zoë began arranging the firewood into a teepee shape with the kindling in the center. Using Kim's small campfire starting tool, Zoë scraped a few shavings of magnesium over the kindling. Once there was a good coating, the flint was scraped near her kindling trying to get a spark. On the fifth time, the kindling finally took and leaned in, blowing on the fire to make it spread. There was a loud pop as the magnesium took and spread through the rest of the kindling. the suddenness of it caught the little Pixie by surprise, making her fall back on her bottom. Zoë got back to her feet, surveying her handiwork, and turned expectantly towards the Pixie Scout Leader, ready to hear the final critique.

"Hmmmm," Kim appeared to be in deep thought over the end result of her daughter's efforts, scribbling in her scout leader notebook. In truth, Zoë had done everything right, much better than Kim had when she was young. Though Shego would never let Kim live it down if she found out, when Kim had earned her Salamander badge, she'd succeeded in building a campfire…and singeing off her eyebrows. "Pixie Scout Zoë…excellent work." Kim broke composure and gave her daughter a big smile. There was a chorus of cheers from behind the pair as Zoë's sisters ran in for a group hug with their sister.

"Is that not the most amazing thing you've ever seen?" Shego stepped in, her voice dripping with pride. "My daughter…MY daughter…made fire. Let ALL who stand before her tremble at her mighty power." Shego laughed while she squeezed her four daughters, nuzzling Zoë's cheek.

"Better than Mom the last time she tried to make cookies." Gracie laughed, looking up at Kim.

Kim choked at those words and her face flushed redder than a beat. During her peak as a teen hero, everybody called Kim Possible "the girl who could do ANYTHING". Combined with the family motto that "anything was possible for a Possible", the teen girl had a mountain of a reputation. But the teen girl, now the "Woman who could do Anything", had one fateful weakness…that Drakken's plots were nowhere near as big a danger to the world as was Kim when she tried to do anything in the kitchen. When word got out that Kim was attempting anything in the kitchen, reputation be damned, the Middleton Fire Department was always on high alert. And her family, especially her wife and oldest daughter, never failed to remind her of that!

"No big KP," Ron had collapsed to the ground and was rolling around in laughter. The blonde sidekick wheezed, "Some people just don't have the culinary genius gene."

"Says the fool responsible for the monstrosity known as the naco," Kim muttered, attempting to glare at everyone at once.

"More like a monster masterpiece," Ron gasped indignantly. "Right Gracie?"

"Totally right, Uncle Ron," Gracie laughed, letting go of her sisters and reaching over to her uncle for a high five. "Mom doesn't know what she's talking about!"

There was another round of laughter and everyone settled down to begin making dinner. The Possibles had brought an abundant supply of powdered food and MREs. Since Zoë had made the fire, it fell to Emily and Gracie to make dinner for the camp. Emily would earn her Zephyr badge for cooking and Gracie, using the pit oven she'd made while Uncle Ron watched, would earn her Hundine badge for advanced camp cooking skills. Emily seemed to be working on a form of camp chili seasoned with some wild herbs they'd found on the trail. Gracie meanwhile had premade Cornish Pasties baking in her pit oven. The Pixie Scout Leader circulated around her daughters, taking notes in her notebook. Once both girls were satisfied with their creations, campers got into line with plates and bowls, ready for some chow. Emily was first up and she began ladling chili out into everyone's bowls. From there, once Gracie dowsed her fire and dug open the pit oven, she lifted the steaming hot balls of foil and placed one on everyone's plate.

Shego and Ronnie dove into the chili while Ron and Yori carefully opened the foil and dug into the Cornish Pasties. Both camp cooks were a little hesitant to touch their food until the verdict was passed. All looked very satisfied with their meal but the girls held their breath while Kim began eating the food, savoring each bite like it was a swallow of fine wine. Ok, she had tortured her daughters enough. The redhead fixed both girls with a somber stare, gestured for the girls to come closer, and pulled them into a bear hug.

"Rest easy girls," Kim announced. "Everything is delicious; right, everybody?"

There was a round of praise from everyone around the campfire. Gracie and Emily both breathed sighs of relief and began digging in to their own plates with gusto. There were calls for seconds but everyone had still left room for dessert, dessert of course being s'mores. Emily was a little disappointed when her marshmallow caught fire but Ronnie quickly offered up his, forcing all of the adults to suppress a smile. Kim quickly whipped out her Kimmunicator, triggering the camera function, and snapped a picture of the two exchanging the treat. "That is one of the cutest things I've ever seen," Kim gushed, looking at the photo. "Our little Emily has a boyfriend." Emily giggled and planted a marshmallow smeared kiss on the little boy's cheek

"A perfect Gentleman," Yori leaned over and tousled her son's blonde mop. "Just like his father."

The marshmallow bag was slowly emptied and Ron brought out his contribution to the meal, instant coffee and hot cocoa. The water was brought to a boil and each of the children received a mug of hot cocoa while the adults enjoyed a steaming hot cup of camp coffee. By that time, the stars were out in their full glory. Kim looked up and thought that now as a perfect chance for the younger Possibles to make an attempt at their Comet badge for identifying constellations.

"Hey Emily," Kim inquired. "Can you show me the only star in the sky that never moves?"

Emily swallowed the last of her cocoa and looked around the sky. First she had to find the Big Dipper, the stars that looked like a spoon. She found them and put up her hand, counting five finger lengths until she got to a really bright one. "There it is Mommy! That's the Polar Iris!"

"I think you mean 'Polaris' honey," Kim nodded her approval. "But that's close enough. It's a little late in the season but can you find Orion, the Great Hunter?"

Emily stood up, turning around in circles until she was facing south, now looking for three stars in a row. It was barely visible but Emily could just make out the three stars over the tree line. Kim congratulated her daughter and began doling out constellations for her other daughters. Gracie succeeded in finding Crater, Apollo's cup, as well as Leo the Lion. Zoë was quickly able to find Hydra. That encompassed most of the constellations visible this time of year. They'd make another attempt in a few months when the summer constellations were at their brightest.

There was a chorus of yawns from the younger set and parents began ushering the children towards their tents to begin process of getting ready for bed. There was a little resistance but that was quickly quashed when Kim promised everyone that they would explore Middleton Caves the next morning. Gracie led the younger kids to the river and everyone began brushing their teeth. Kim and Shego ducked into their tent once the girls were set and tucked the girls into their sleeping bags. Though Gracie was getting a little old for it, Emily and Zoë still couldn't get to sleep without their mothers singing them a song.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine," Kim began.

"You make me happy when skies are gray," Shego continued.

"You'll never know dears, how much we love you."

"Oh please don't take our sunshine away." Shego finished up and leaned down and planted a kiss on each of her daughters' heads. "Goodnight my little Angels. We love you so much."

Kim and Shego returned to their seats around the campfire and snuggled up close to each other now that the little pitchers with big ears were off to dream land. Shego began nuzzling her wife's neck. THERE was that spot, the spot that drove her wife crazy. "Shego Possible, don't…don't you dare! They're not even asleep yet." Kim tried to push Shego away. Shego would never push things too far but she didn't see much harm in continuing. While the older woman's sense of humor could be a little crass at times, doing anything seriously inappropriate around her girls was unthinkable. But they weren't being very loud and was there really any harm in a little fun?

"Oh, come on," Shego leaned back in and started kissing her wife's neck. "Oh Den Mother," Shego breathed in between kisses. "I've got a badge I want to earn." Kim had to put an end to this now or she would lose control. The redhead grabbed her wife's head and locked lips in a kiss that would buckle her wife's knees.

"I didn't know that the Pixies had a badge for that," Ron laughed as he and Yori approached the fire.

The pair had been caught off guard and jumped apart, both women blushing profusely. Though Ron had been suspicious of Shego at the beginning, he didn't even blink when Kim and Shego were being affectionate. All the same, that had been one hell of a fun New Year's party for Ron. Since that day, Ron had never let Shego live the moment down. As a jab, Ron couldn't resist making a token belly dancing attempt as he sat down next to his lovely wife.

"Don't quit your day job Stoppable," Shego gave a wry grin and the purple blush in her cheeks got even bigger. She was all of a sudden very interested in her feet.

"So KP, how's the next installment of _The Feronia Syndicate_?" Ron asked after an elbow to the ribs from Yori, bringing an end to the little bout of teasing.

After college and in between saving the world, Kim had become quite a successful writer. Her works on Ancient Britain and Early Roman History were extraordinarily well received, as were her books on the possible physics surrounding sci/fi technology (thank you very much Shego and Abby). Kim's first attempt at fiction, her science fiction novel _The Feronia Syndicate_, a Robin Hood-style space adventure about a band of outlaws descended from Free Masons fighting alongside a fledgling democracy against an inter-stellar tyrant, spent six months at the top of the New York Times' best seller's list and had even landed her a guest spot on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. That had been a lot of fun. From then on, Kim had thrown her work life into _The Feronia Syndicate_, prompting her wife to now refer to her wife as the J.K. Rowling of the science fiction. It was a real reality shock when Shego had brought home book reports on the novel.

"Quite well actually," Kim smiled, taking another sip of coffee. "I think I've reached the half-way point. Another three months and I think I'll have a first draft ready."

"Any chance we could get a little preview?" Yori asked, wrapping her arm around her husband.

"That depends on whether or not the Yamanouchi School is prepared to protect me from the wrath of my publisher," Kim chuckled. "Speaking of, how did Hana enjoy spending winter break at the school?"

"Oh, she had the time of her life," Ron answered enthusiastically. "We dropped in to see her and Sensei when we were visiting Yori's folks in Kyoto for New Year's."

The turnaround in Ron's attitude concerning being a big brother was nothing short of miraculous. When faced with the fact that his parents had adopted Hana, she was "The Intruder". But eventually Ron fully embraced his role as a big brother, becoming fiercely protective and working as hard as he could to prepare her for her destiny as "The Han", the prophesied warrior savoir of the Yamanouchi Clan. With The Lotus Blades being so successful, Ron and Yori were able to pay for Hana to begin a study abroad trip at the school, spending winter break and one month of the summer there each year. Ron's parents had put their foot down when faced with Hana spending more time than that abroad, wanting their daughter to have a stable home life.

"Gracie loved all the letters and the kimono Hana sent her," Shego remembered quite well how Gracie was first to the mailbox whenever her "big sister" was away and saved every letter Hana wrote. When together, Hana and Gracie had it all planned out how they were going to save the world together, just like Ron and Kim.

"The next generation of heroes growing up right in front of our eyes," Kim sighed, putting her head on her wife's shoulder. "Ron, back when we got that first mission by mistake, could you have ever imagined that we'd end up like this?"

"Well, considering the fact that you set up the website looking for babysitting jobs," Ron laughed but then got more serious. "Not in a million years. I look back at all the missions, all the villains we creamed…no offense Shego," Shego snorted in amusement as she remembered all too well how often Stoppable had wound up without pants when on missions. "Anyway, I look back on all that and I wouldn't change a thing."

"Me neither," Kim sighed and squeezed in closer to her glorious wife. "My only regret is that it took you and me so long."

"Kimmie…a soul mate is always worth waiting for," Shego leaned in and kissed her wife on the nose.

The parents decided that the time had come for everyone to turn in. Ron and Yori retreated to their tent next to Ronnie's and Kim and Shego sealed themselves into theirs. The Mrs. Possible had long since discovered how much they enjoyed a lifestyle sans clothing. Sealed in their own little world, Kim reveled in the freedom of movement. Ronnie being a very impressionable seven year old and his dad already having the memory of walking into the Palace with both Shego and Kim completely oblivious that they were in their birthday suites, each woman had a bathrobe neatly folded by their makeshift bedside.

"Now I hope you approve," Shego began explaining. "Because I worked on this all last night. After much struggling, I've succeeded in joining our two sleeping bags." Shego climbed in and held it open for her wife. "Care to join me?"

"Why Mrs. Possible, I do declare," Kim smirked as she slid into the sleeping bag next to Shego and curled up against her wife's warm body. Had there ever been a market for a sound-proof tent, Kim and Shego Possible would've had the first on the shelf.

"Gracie?" Kim leaned over her oldest daughter. "Sweetheart, are you ok?"

In a rare turn of events, Kim and Shego had been some of the first up. Ron and Ronnie were up at the crack of dawn with fishing poles and tackle boxes, hoping to catch a few fish to have with the eggs for breakfast so that meant that Ron had nearly a full pot of coffee ready to pull Shego into the land of the living. Shego had polished off her second cup of coffee and Kim her first when Emily came tearing out of the girls' tent, calling for Shego and Kim. The little six year old was scared! The explanation was rushed and difficult to puzzle out but it sounded like Gracie had been groaning in extreme pain and wasn't responding. Maternal instinct kicked in and both coffee cups plummeted to the ground as the two women took off running for the girls' tent. Zoë was kneeling beside her older sister, utterly terrified and unsure of what to do.

"Gracie, can you hear me?" Kim repeated, kneeling down next to Zoë, placing her hand on Gracie's forehead to check for a temperature. Gracie looked to be drenched in sweat, her flowing auburn locks a matted mess. As far as Kim could tell though, Gracie's temperature felt normal.

"My head hurts," Gracie groaned weakly, curling up in her soaked sleeping bag.

"It's going to be ok baby," Kim looked up to her wife. "Shego, go get the first aid kit and the Kimmunicator from our tent; Wade can do a body scan of her." Shego ducked out and towards their tent. "Emily, go get one of the canteens and fill it with cold water."

"Is Gracie gonna be okay Mommy?" Emily looked to be on the verge of tears.

Kim reached over and hugged her younger daughter. "She's going to be just fine baby." Kim released Emily and her daughter took off for the canteen. Shego returned a few moments later with the Kimmunicator and a satchel with a big red cross on it. Kim called in to Wade, Team Possible's longtime tech guru.

"Hey KP," Wade yawned on the small video screen and took a gulp of coffee. "How's the camping trip?"

"Not so good Wade. Gracie's drenched in sweat and is complaining of a terrible headache," Kim quickly relayed their situation to the genius on the other line. "Can you run a body scan of her?"

"No problem," The sleep was gone from Wade's eyes and he was now all business, bringing his massive computer system online. "Put the Kimmunicator over her and I'll take a look."

Kim did as instructed, placing her Kimmunicator over Gracie. A red beam shot out of the lens of the communication device and proceeded to run back and forth across the adolescent Possible several times. The beam shut off and there was a buzzing while the data was compiled and transmitted back to Wade's computers.

"Well," Kim asked. Both parents had to keep control of themselves for the twins' sake. "Is everything okay?"

"Well I can be certain Gracie isn't sick or hurt," Wade eyes were glued to the computer printout. "Well...for lack of a better term, my readings indicate that she's going through some kind of massive growth spurt, not like anything I've ever seen."

"But you're sure she's not hurt or ill?" Shego asked, leaning down so Wade could see her.

"Of that I'm positive," Wade assured them. "Best thing for her, I think, is to take some Advil and get plenty of rest, maybe some Benadryl to help her get back to sleep. I'll get to work on these readings and see if I can get better results for you. It might take a couple of hours though."

"Well do what you can Wade," Well, at least it wasn't completely bad news. The Kimmunicator winked out and Kim heaved a small sigh of relief. Emily was standing beside her, holding the canteen at the ready. "Everything's okay girls; Gracie is just having some bad growing pains. All she needs is some medicine and rest." Shego had been rifling through the first aid kit for the appropriate pills and dropped them into Kim's hand. "Gracie, honey, do you think you can handle some water so you can take some medicine?"

"I'll try," Gracie whispered as Shego lifted up her daughter so she could better take a drink of water.

Kim placed the three pills onto Gracie's tongue and tilted the canteen up so that she could get a gulp of water. Ever so slowly, Shego slowly lowered her daughter back down onto her sleeping bag.

"Now you get some more sleep," Shego soothed, running her fingers through her daughter's hair. "I'll be back in to check on you in a few hours. Come girls; let's leave your sister to get some sleep."

Everyone trooped out of the girls' tent, Zoey and Emily giving their big sister a hug before they left. The twins were sent off to make a visit to "Fort Necessity" while the 'rents had a private word. Once the girls were out of sight, Kim clasped her wife's hand.

"So what do we do?" Kim turned to her wife.

"Well…Wade says that it's a growth spurt but…" Shego hung her head. This was awful; her beautiful baby girl was suffering extreme pain and she was utterly and completely powerless. Shego Possible NEVER liked feeling powerless, especially when it came to her family. "That Benadryl will knock her out for at least six hours. After breakfast, why don't you and Ron take the kids on an explore through the caves like we planned and I'll stay with Gracie. If she's not feeling better by the time you get back, we'll pack up and head for home."

"What's going on?" Ron and Ronnie had made it back to camp with a bucket full of wriggling fish.

"Gracie's not feeling too well right now," Kim sighed, turning to face the two.

"Oh no," What was going on with Ronald Stoppable's niece? "Is she going to be okay?"

"We had Wade do a body scan," Shego replied. She couldn't help but praise the little tech nerd. Through his work as Team Possible's tech junkie, Wade had parlayed his inventions into a multi-million dollar technological empire. But through all of that, through all of the success, Wade would still drop anything he was doing for Kim and the rest of Team Possible, especially when it came to the girls. "She's not sick but Wade is still working on the problem. We gave Gracie some Advil and a Benadryl to help her sleep. Kim and I were thinking that the two of you take the kids into the caves after breakfast. Yori and I will stay behind and keep an eye on her."

It seemed like a good plan in light of the situation so Ron took Ronnie to the other side of the campsite to begin cleaning their catch for the day. Breakfast consisted of powdered eggs made by Zoë and grilled fish made by Uncle Ron. Gracie was still sound asleep by the time they finished eating when Shego went to check on her. Thankfully she had stopped sweating by then. Shego gently lifted her out and placed her on top of the sleeping bag with a blanket. Once Kim was sure Gracie was stable, those who were going began gathering equipment of exploring the cave.

"This is a very big place," Kim warned, looking at each of the children as she marched passed them. "So it is very important that you don't go wandering off. Pixie Scout Emily, what should you do if you get lost?"

"Uhhhh…don't get scared?" Emily offered, looking up hopefully at her Mommy.

"Correct Pixie Scout Emily," Kim flashed a brief smile at her daughter but then resumed her General Patton-like stroll. "The trail we'll be following through the caves is well marked but if you get separated from the group, don't panic. Stay where you are and wait for someone to find you."

"Uh…Kim…" Why was Kim always like this? For as long as Ron had known Kim, she had been a highly motivated and highly competitive person. Ron flashed back to a time back in high school when Kim had to temporarily take over coaching her brothers' soccer team when her Dad broke his leg. Her ultra-competitiveness had nearly caused a mutiny among the kids and turned them off from sports forever. "Kim…isn't this something the park ranger will tell us? And…you're kind of scaring me."

There was a laugh among the kids as Kim fixed her best friend with a flinty glare, forcing him to cower slightly.

After going through the necessary supplies that they would be carrying (water, energy bars, electric lantern, etc), the group marched into the cave entrance. Kim ignited her lantern once inside and shortly after entering the cave system, the group was greeted by a uniformed park ranger who introduced himself as Ranger Stu.

"Thanks for meeting us today Ranger Stu," Kim reached out and shook his hand. "These are my daughters, Zoë and Emily. This is my good friend Ron Stoppable and his son Ronnie."

"Well it's good to meet all of you little spelunkers," Ranger Stu clapped his hands together. "Why don't we get started on your adventure?"

Before they could move out, Emily raised her hand. "Mr. Ranger, what's a splunker?"

"A sp_e_lunker is a cave explorer," Ranger Stu turned to face her, smiling at her mispronunciation of the word. "After today, all of you are going to be official cave explorers."

Before the group went any further, Ranger Stu took everyone through a few of the safety rules and procedures for their trip. There was a muttered "I told you so" and Kim suppressed a growl. Once everything was covered, Ranger Stu began handing out the last bit of equipment, hardhats. There was a metallic closet built into the wall of the cave filled to the brim with souvenir hardhats and began dolling them out.

"Uh, Mr. Ranger sir," Zoey piped up when he started locking up the door. "Our big sister Gracie is sick and couldn't come. Could she have a helmet too?"

Kim's heart melted just a little. All three of her daughters got along so well and cared about each other so much. While Kim could say that she had always loved her twin brothers, Jim and Tim Possible, for most of her teenage life they drove her absolutely up the wall; but Gracie, Zoë, and Emily? Gracie was fiercely protective of her little sisters and her little sisters followed her around like two little puppies.

At a nod from their mother, confirming their story, Ranger Stu dug another helmet out of the closet before locking it back up.

"Well we can't have her missing out, can we?" Ranger Stu smiled as he handed the helmet to Zoë. "I'll trust you to keep it safe for her."

Lanterns were ignited, bathing the tunnel in a yellow glow, Ranger Stu ignited his own lamp atop his helmet and began leading them down the paved path through the cave entrance. Middleton Caves were under the jurisdiction of the State Park Service and a very popular local tourist destination. While the majority of the cave system, a good two thirds of the cave chambers and passages, was uncharted and off limits to the public, the remaining third had been converted for tours. Half of it was attached to the state campgrounds, mostly for RVers and the like. The other half, the half the party currently inhabited, while still under state administration, was more of a stark adventure tour set aside for scout troops in the area like the Pixies. While the major chambers were illuminated to show the sites, the passages that linked them were pitch black.

"The Middleton Caves system is over 200 million years old," Ranger Stu began, guiding them through the tour. He still couldn't believe it. Kim Possible; he was giving a tour to Kim FREAKING Possible! "A long, long time ago all of this area was one big lake and underneath that lake were huge amounts of limestone and petroleum. Over the years, gases started to leak through the limestone, eating away at the rock and forming the caverns that we'll be seeing today. While the caverns were being formed, the lake above began to evaporate."

While not understanding some of the more scientific information, the children were hanging on Ranger Stu's every word, asking questions and running their hands over everything that they could reach. Kim and Ron had been on this trip a few times before, Kim as a Pixie Scout herself and both of them for various school trips in science class. There really wasn't much to marvel at until they came to the first chamber. If you'd seen one fossilized fish in a cave wall, you'd seen them all.

"Back during the American Revolution, the Middleton Minutemen actually used these caves to store weapons and equipment for fighting the British," Ranger Stu offered, gesturing at a small sealed chamber that housed an array of replica firearms and an old Revolutionary war flag hanging on the cave wall. "And here…we come to the first stop on our adventure. We call this cavern 'Chamber of the Gods'."

Shego ducked into Gracie's tent with a sandwich on a small plate and a glass of juice. All of the Possible girls seemed to have inherited enhanced healing abilities from Shego's genetic material. While a Benadryl would knock out an average human for about six hours, Gracie had woken up about two and a half hour after taking it. The headache had thankfully subsided but she was still complaining that the rest of her body hurt. Shego had her take another Advil and told her to try to get some more sleep, not needing the Benadryl. When Gracie had woken up the second time, it was around lunch time. Having already missed breakfast, the mother inside Shego was adamant about her not missing another meal.

"Hey there muffin," Shego smiled as she kneeled down next to her eldest daughter. "Feeling any better?"

"Not really," Gracie mumbled. "It still hurts to move. George has been helping me get things."

George, Gracie's Naked Mole Rat and partner in crime, popped up from Gracie's knapsack and began heaving out a graphic novel version of one of Gracie's favorite comic books, Star Wars Infinity. Taking very special care where he stepped so as not to hurt his partner, George dragged the graphic novel onto Gracie's chest and into her hands. Gracie took the book and thanked George.

"S'nothin," George smiled and waved away the thanks in a squeaky voice. The little rodent plopped down onto one of the folds of the blanket to catch his gasping breath.

"Think you can handle some food?" Shego smiled at the care George displayed for his charge and offered Gracie the sandwich and the glass of chilled apple juice. "You slept through breakfast and I bet that you're starving."

Gracie smiled and nodded, trying to sit up. Shego had brought in a special pillow from her and Kim's tent, a pillow shaped like the top portion of an armchair. Very often Shego liked to read a bit before she went to bed and this allowed Gracie to be in a position besides flat on her back. Gracie slid up with Shego's help, Shego warning her oldest not to push herself too hard. Shego placed the plate on Gracie's lap and the cup full of juice next to her. A pair of straws was dropped into the juice, allowing Gracie and George to share the juice without Shego having to cringe at the thought of Gracie sharing her drink with a rodent.

The Shegophone chimed back her tent, the name for her own personal communication device. The older mother leaned in and kissed Gracie on the forehead while she was breaking off a chunk of cheese from the sandwich, giving it to a wildly enthusiastic George. Shego zipped up Gracie's tent and moved over to reach into her and Kim's tent. The flap was open so Shego was able to snag the communication device on the edge of the sleeping bag. She accepted the call and an image of Wade appeared on the screen.

"So what's the prognosis?" Shego asked, thankful that she was finally getting some info.

"I've run the data through every scan in existence," Wade answered, hefting up another sheaf of computer printouts. "Gracie is indeed going through a growth spurt for lack of a better term but it seems to be a 'spurt' at the cellular level."

"What exactly does that mean?" Shego arched her brow.

"Well, when DNAmy and Drakken first designed the retrovirus device, you found out that DNAmy had removed anything from your genetic material that might prove harmful to a fetus, either in the womb or after it was born," Wade leaned back in his computer chair and tented his fingers. "For all intents and purposes, what that means is that DNAmy essentially ensured that your plasma powers wouldn't be transferred on to Gracie. But this is truly interesting. While she removed your plasma and left your enhanced health and constitution, DNAmy still left the comet particles floating around in your bloodstream. Essentially, while DNAmy prevented your powers from being transferred, she left the door wide open for Gracie to manifest an entirely different set of powers of her own."

Oh dear God! What did this…how…she needed to sit down. "So Gracie is a meta-human…like me?"

"That's what my gut is telling me," Wade nodded.

"Why is she only showing signs now?' Shego asked, taking a seat in a nearby camp chair. "My brothers and I started showing signs of our powers within a few days of exposure."

"That I don't know Shego," Wade replied, setting down the papers describing Gracie's current condition. "You and your brothers were the only humans in existence who came into contact with the comet. While the doctors could be certain that your powers specifically prevented you from carrying a child, not a lot of study was done on the passing on of your powers to the second generation."

Shego remembered those days well. She and her brothers were kids when the meteor struck so the next generation wasn't really on their minds at the time. Since Shego's doctors were able to determine that her powers prevented her from ever having children, that made any studies on the passing on of Shego's powers rather pointless. Shego didn't recall her brothers ever mentioning any studies in that regard so there really must not have been ANY work done in that area.

"Since Gracie is the first of the next generation, I'm kind of scrambling around in the dark with this," While Wade found all of this very fascinating, he always found it frustrating when he couldn't give his friends the information that they needed. "You and your brothers had the powers introduced to your bodies and Gracie was born with them. Gracie's starting to go through puberty and I think that her abilities are tied to that. Her body is going through so many changes that her abilities have been shaken out of their dormancy and are beginning to take hold."

"Is there…can you tell what her abilities will be?" Shego struggled, still trying to make sense of all this.

"I'm afraid not," Wade shook his head. "Gracie's cells are going through too many changes for me to say for certain."

"What about the twins?" Shego persisted. "Are they going to go through the same thing?"

"Again, it's difficult to say," Wade answered. "While I can be sure that they will have your healing abilities and enhanced health, passing those on only ensures the CHANCE of the twins manifesting meta-human abilities. On the positive side though, with all the data that I've gotten from Gracie, I'll have a better idea of what to look for in the twins when they get to be Gracie's age and I'll be able to get a better idea if they WILL manifest powers."

Shego thanked Wade for all the information and work he'd done in helping nail down Gracie's condition. She had so much to think about and explain to Kim. Wade thought it better to leave the woman to her thoughts so he signed off. Her daughter had powers? For some reason, Shego had never really considered the idea that Gracie or any of her daughters could have abilities such as hers. Shego's own powers had made her adolescence and teen years a living nightmare. About the only good thing she could find from the incident with the comet was that it had taken out the monsters that called themselves her parents. Add to that her tenuous relationship with her "superhero" brother Hego that had only begun getting better shortly before the twins were born? Now her little Gracie was going to have powers as well?

Wait, what the heck was she thinking? From the very beginning, Shego had strove to be a better mother than she herself had ever had. Gracie's childhood had been worlds better than her own. While she was a child who had two same-sex parents and pale than your average person, Gracie had refused to let that bother her. She was an extremely well-liked girl and had a circle of friends that she was extremely close to. She was part of the school choir, honor student, and even had a spot on the middle school track and field team. She was the very definition of an All-American Girl. She hadn't let anything she encountered bother her…so why should this be any different? Gracie Anne Possible was the daughter of Kimberly Anne Possible, the Woman who could do Anything, and Shego Gordon Possible, the hardened warrior queen who didn't take any crap from anyone. Gracie wouldn't let this affect her and by jingo, Shego wouldn't let it affect herself either.

"She's completely perfect in every way," Shego said to no one in particular. "And this isn't going to change any of that."

"And she speaks," Yori replied, waving her hand in front of Shego's face. "I've been calling your name for the past five minutes. You were dug in like a tick."

"Sorry Yori," She really had been deep in thought. "I…I had a few things I had to think about."

"Is everything going to be okay with Gracie?" Yori remembered that it HAD been Wade Shego had been talking to.

"Yeah," Shego smiled and looked towards Gracie's tent. "Yeah, she's going to be just fine."

_This is new, _Kim thought to herself.

The kids had loved "The Chamber of the Gods". The massive stalactites were still breathtaking after all these years and the state park service had set up colored lights that gave them a truly mythic appearance. From there, Ranger Stu had taken them to a new chamber that made everyone in the group gasp in awe. The cavern was littered with stalagmites of varying sizes but what was truly remarkable was that running throughout walls of the cavern were massive veins of a glowing pink mineral. Floodlights had been set up at various points throughout the cavern, angled so that they were shining into the veins, making it look like the walls were glowing with natural sunlight.

"Geologists found this chamber about two months ago," Ranger Stu explained, seeing their awestruck faces. "Running throughout this chamber are massive veins of rose quartz. This is one of the biggest deposits of Rose Quartz in North America, second only to the deposits found in South Dakota."

"What do you think Ronnie?" Ron asked his son as he hefted him on top of Ron's shoulders.

"This is so COOL, Dad," Ronnie gasped, his eyes as big as saucers.

Ranger Stu couldn't help but smile. No matter how many times he showed this exhibit in recent years, the looks on their faces were always worth it. "Now if you kids will follow me?" He led them over to a small section of the cavern where the veins ceased. As they got closer, Kim could see that the veins were still there but were quite smaller and a little paler. Little stations had been set up near the bottom, each one with a hammer, chisel, and thick pair of work gloves. "As a souvenir of your visit, you all get to mine a piece of quartz."

The kids looked up at their parents for permission. Kim and Ron nodded their approval and the trio ran towards the stations, shoving on the gloves and grabbing the tools. Ranger Stu picked up his own tool and showed the three of them how to go about mining their souvenir gems. Once they were working, little pings ringing through the cavern.

"Why wasn't something like this on the news?" Kim questioned as Ranger Stu returned to stand beside them.

"Oh, it's going to be," Ranger Stu replied. "It's going to be. We just finished remodeling the chamber for tours and Park Service and Governor's Office wanted to pair the press release of the discovery with the opening of the new exhibit. You five are some of the first to see it."

"But…why?" Kim stuttered, shocked at their good fortune.

"Well a few years ago you saved my Pop's boat rental business," Ranger Stu explained. "Senor Senior Senior was scheming to gain control of all the tourist towns on the Eastern Seaboard. Go figure. Anyway, when Pop found out that I was giving KIM POSSIBLE and her family a tour of the caves, he insisted that I give you the VIP treatment."

Kim could remember that mission. It was shortly after they got back from their trip around the world after Kim graduated from college. Senior Senior was once again encouraging Junior to show initiative in their evil empire. They were using some sort of transforming submarine to destroy every tourist town on the East Coast until the deeds to the property were turned over. Junior gave it his usual half assed attempt and Kim, Ron, and Shego were able to trigger the sub's self-destruct mechanism and haul the father and son off to the Klink.

"Well the next time you see your dad, please tell him that it SO wasn't the drama." Kim turned and smiled at the Ranger.

"So you let people actually mine the stones?" Ron asked. "Isn't that losing a lot of money?"

"Not really. Rose quartz is worth about $15000 a ton if it is 100% pure," Ranger Stu turned to Ron. "Even then, its value greatly depends on who is buying it and what they want it for. The little chunks the kids are digging up are relatively worthless except as souvenirs. You can find gems like this in museum gift shops all over the country. With all that in mind, the head of the state park service and the Governor thought that it would do more good as part of the exhibit."

"That's pretty clever actually," Ron nodded, admiring the business sense behind the move. "Kind of like that paleontological dig site at Disney World."

Ronnie, Zoë, and Emily were on cloud nine as they pried loose gems, holding them up as if it were a hunk of gold. Ronnie was holding an extra gem for his mother and Emily had gotten a second one for Gracie. Without needing to be told, the kids ran right up to Ranger Stu and thanked him. Ranger Stu told them that it was absolutely no trouble. Once things had been gathered up and all were ready, Ranger Stu took the lead and headed towards the next chamber.

Without warning, the entire cavern shook and the lights blinked out.

"What the hell was that?" Shego gasped. The ground beneath them gave a violent shake.

Gracie had felt a good deal better after getting some food and another nap. Upon waking up, Gracie had decided that she'd been cooped up in the tent enough and needed some fresh air. She still felt a little weak so Momma and Aunt Yori decided to break out the cribbage board and get a game going. Halfway in, Gracie was cleaning the older women's clock. She'd laid down a triple run hand when the ground seemed to quake beneath them. The table and Gracie had been knocked to the ground and Shego leapt to her aid.

"Did…did that come from the cave?" Yori's gaze slowly swung towards the cave entrance.

Shego cautiously helped her daughter to her feet and hustled towards her tent for the Shegophone. Kimmie never went anywhere without the Kimmunicator. Get the Shegophone and get a hold of Kimmie! Do what had to be done.

"Kimmie?" Shego gasped into the communication device. "Kimmie, we heard a roar from the cave mouth. Kimmie…Kimmie please answer."

The passing moments seemed an eternity. The beats of Shego's heart were like rumbles of thunder. Waiting…Begging…praying her wife and lover to answer.

_Come and embrace them Lord _

_Hold them secure_

_Hold them strong_

_Hold them forever_

_In Your everlasting arms _

Shego was about to utter the prayer again when a pitch black image appeared on the small screen. "Eme…" Kimmie choked. "Eme…there's been a cave in. The entrances are blocked. We…we're all together but…listen, the Kimmunicator was damaged. Battery is very low."

"Oh God," Her wife…her babies…trapped. "Kimmie, turn the Kimmunicator off. Save the battery. I promise you, I will find you! I swear to God, if I have to tear that cave apart stone by stone, I will get you all out of there!" The screen went blank and Shego's mind began to whir in activity. Kim's Traverse; that was Shego's first target. Both women kept emergency mission gear in hidden compartments within the Chevy Traverse, the vehicle the family had upgraded to when the twins were born.

"Shego, what's going on? What happened?"

The older woman proceeded to fill Yori in on the situation. She was used to Ron being in precarious situations as part of Team Possible and was thankfully able to keep her head, at least after finding out that everyone was still together. With Yori in the fold, that made Shego's only concern getting to the Traverse. It took the Possible family over an hour to hike up to this campsite and that was time that she couldn't spare right now. Thank God Ron had driven his family up the trail in a Polaris Ranger! A rev of the engine, a short burst of speed, and Shego was back at the parking lot where they had left the SUV.

In the back of every vehicle in America, one would likely find a spare tire and a repair kit; but the Possible family? BAAHHH! Shego pressed a button on her key fob and the bed of the SUV slid back to reveal a scene out of a James Bond movie. The older woman grabbed the black duffel with an SP embroidered on it, tossing it into the back of the Ranger, and surveyed the rest of the equipment she could need. Rappelling and survival gear would be a definite yes. Her plasma powers made any cutting or laser equipment redundant. Taking one last look, there really wasn't anything else that she would need. The SUV was locked up and the woman on a mission made a beeline back to the campsite. There were several green pick-up trucks parked around the campsite with sirens blaring. The trucks were plastered with state park insignia and park officers were all over the campsite.

One of the park officers gasped. "Holy CRAP; is that Shego Possible?"

Gotta love the reputation sometimes; any other person, they'd probably stop them from going in. After Shego emerged from her tent in full mission gear, the senior officer on scene introduced himself and began relaying the situation to the reformed thief. The State Park Service had been finishing up renovations on some new exhibits. Though no one could figure out how or why as of yet, one of the generators providing power to the work areas had blown, completely caving in the cavern. While the Kimmunicator had been damaged, the officer who'd been giving Kimmie and the others a tour still had a fully functioning radio. The blast had shaken loose several stalagmites and stalactites from the chamber the group were in, sealing everybody in. The kids were all fine but Kim had injured her leg in a fall when everything went dark.

"The good news is that no one in the party can wander off. There are only two passages into the chamber and both are effectively sealed. Based on the time of the explosion, they will have plenty of air."

"They should have plenty of food and water to tide them over," Shego remembered Kim going over the emergency supplies with the children before going. "Kim and Ron will ration the supplies until we can get to them."

"So it's all just a question of getting to them."

"Getting into the chamber won't be a problem," Shego broke open her duffel and began attaching equipment to the harnesses and straps on her cargo pants and combat harness. "How difficult will traversing these caves be in the dark?"

"All of my officers know these caves by heart when lit," The officer continued, curiosity peaked by the equipment Shego had brought. "When dark? I'd say three hours if we're cautious."

"Then let's get started," Shego turned to a nearby Gracie and Yori. "Gracie, sweetie, I'm going to go with the officers and bring Mommy and your sisters back."

"But Momma…"

"No 'buts' young lady," Shego fixed the pre-teen with a stern glare. "You're old enough but still too weak from this morning." Gracie attempted to put up another objection but was quickly silenced. "Grace Anne Possible, part of being a world saver means knowing your limitations, knowing when it is safe to go on a mission and when it's not safe. I need you to go to the Ranger Stations with Aunt Yori. We'll be in constant contact every step of the way but Gracie…will you please do this for me?"

Gracie slumped forward in frustration. Darn it; she was freakin FOUR when she ran off. That had been wrong and she KNEW that but hadn't she endured enough yet? "Okay Momma; I'll go."

The older woman smiled and pulled her daughter into an embrace. "Thank you Muffin. We'll be back soon. George," Shego focused on the rodent peeking out of Gracie's pocket. "Keep her out of trouble."

"Aye Aye!" The little pink rodent snapped to attention and gave the older woman a salute.

The once bright cavern was bathed with an eerie green glow. Thank God Kim had thought to pack a lantern AND glow sticks. All of the electric lights had been commandeered by Ron and Ranger Stu to clear away one of the paths out and had they not had the glow sticks, Kim and the kids would be sitting around in the dark. She had to wince again, feeling the pain in her right leg. Damn it, she'd landed at positively the worst possible angle, making her fear that the shin may be broken. Practically sitting on the Kimmunicator didn't help either.

"We're ready Mommy," Emily piped up.

She HAD to keep the girls preoccupied! Being trapped in a cave would freak even the most serious adult. About the only thing she could think of was for the girls to work on their first aid badges. And the only work available in that area was Kim's own leg. The twins had sorted through the first aid kit in their mother's pack and laid out everything they would need. Zoë began the process by assembling the metal bars and pressing them on her mother's lower leg. Emily unwound the bandages and began wrapping them around Kim's lower leg, taking great care to avoid placing any knots over the sore spot. The green-haired six year old cinched off the bandage above her mother's knee and stood back to admire their handiwork.

True Possibles! Like their mothers and older sister, Zoë and Emily Possible had made a perfect splint. "Oh, I feel better already," Kim gave a weak smile but refrained from moving her leg at all. She motioned for the girls to come in closer and take a seat next to her. "Did I ever tell you girls about the time Uncle Ron and I stopped Frugal Lucre from destroying the internet using an old can of sausages?"

All three children shook their heads, eager to hear about another one of Mommy's adventures.

"Well it all started when Mommy ruined her brand new jeans while fighting a GIANT alligator. Uncle Ron made your Mommy get a new pair from Smarty Mart instead of Club Banana. Uncle Ron SWORE that the only difference was the label." Kim leaned in close to them so the sound wouldn't carry. "Don't tell your Uncle, but he was right." The girls sniggered. Sure, yuck it up. Kim looked back on herself as a teenager…and it was all she could do not to groan. "Anyway, when Uncle Ron dragged Mommy to Smarty Mart, there was this crazy cashier there…"

Back at the chamber entrance, the story was carrying and Ron smiled at the memory of the mission. The only freakin difference between those pairs of pants WAS the label. No time to dwell on that though. The blonde monkey master hefted up another chunk of rock and carried it out of the path. If he and Stu could clear the loose rubble, they might be able to dislodged the massive stalagmite that was blocking the pathway. No way of telling for sure if her leg was broken and if it WAS, she needed a hospital ASAP if they wanted to stand the chance of setting the bone properly.

"You two been on a lot of missions together?" Ranger Stu grunted as he pried loose another chunk of rock.

"All the way back to the beginning," Ron sighed. "She's been my best friend since we were both six."

"Did you two ever…?"

Why did everyone the pair met always want to know THAT? It was like it was an unbelievable mystery that Kim Possible, the girl who could do anything, could possibly be a lesbian. "We made a go of it but it kind of petered out. We both knew that if we pushed it, our friendship would be at risk. Anyway, no regrets. We both wound up with the person we were destined to. I'd never seen Kim so happy as she is when she's with Shego and her girls."

"MP 14-06 from 12-02," A voice came over Stu's radio. "14-06, please come in."

"Go ahead 12-02."

"We've reached the chamber opening with the spouse," The voice crackled. "We've begun clearing away the loose rock. Mrs. Possible is sure her plasma powers will be able to cut through the rock. Continue clearing away the loose chunks and when I give the word, step back so she can begin cutting."

Thank God Shego had gotten down here! With a new found strength, chunks of rock began falling away, leaving only the giant stalagmite. After receiving the order to step back, Ron and Stu popped back to get Kim back on her feet and prep the kids to get out. Oh God Bless that woman! Kim's beautiful and glorious wife was riding in on a metaphorical white horse.

Back when she had first started teaching Shego had melted a trophy into a metallic puddle with her bare hands, all to prove a point to a jock. That meant Ron was about to see a massive chunk of limestone melt before his eyes. It actually proved to be a lot of waiting. The green glow from Shego's plasma began to appear around the edges and the stench of sulfur began to grow. Ever so slowly the temperature in the cavern began to rise and the hulking chunk of limestone began to glow orange. The center of the rock seemed to morph before his eyes from a chunk of infinitely solid material into a steaming gelatinous lump. With one great thrust, the once great slab of limestone was cleft in two. A fog of CO2 burst forth from the whole, solidifying the remaining molten rock, as the figure of Shego Possible, noted world saver, loving mother, and now human blowtorch leapt through.

"Oh Thank God," There she was, her little Kimmie. With a joyous cry, Shego swept the younger woman up into her arms.

Kim held back a cringe of pain from her leg, not wanting to ruin the moment. She felt so safe and secure in her wife's arms. She leaned up and kissed the glossy black lips before her, kissed her wife as if she hadn't seen her in months. The reformed thief never tasted so good.

Kim was returned between Ron and the park ranger and Shego swept up the two other little miracles she'd been searching for. Her beautiful baby girls waved off all of Shego's concerns, claiming that it was "so not the drama". Shego was beaming with maternal pride as the girls explained how they had splinted Mommy's leg.

The family reunion was brought to a close as Park officers began emerging, gaining an appraisal of the situation. Kim was quickly transferred to a litter and secured down. One of the rangers had EMS training and surmised that unfortunately her leg was likely broken. The noted hero was carried out of the caves, her wife and children never leaving her side. The sunlight was blinding as they reached the surface. The injured Kim heaved a sigh of relief as she once again got a look at the sky. The glimpse was cut short as a blur of dark red streaked towards her and hit the litter with a loud thump.

"MOM!" Gracie gasped, wrapping her arms around her injured mother. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Oh Muffin, so not the drama," Kim reached over and mussed the little tween's mop of hair. "I've had worse than this."

The oldest Possible daughter got her own thump as the twins collided into her, pinning her to the ground and wrapping their arms around their big sister in an embrace.

"Ron, I'm going to ride in the ambulance with Kimmie," Shego helped slide Kim's litter into place and climbed in after it. "Can you get the girls to the hospital?"

Kim had emerged from the doctor's office fairly quickly; unfortunately her leg was indeed broken and she hobbled out to the waiting room on crutches. That unfortunately proved to be the nail in the coffin for their camping trip so everyone piled into Kim's Chevy Traverse. Once Kim was seeing the doctor, Ron drove Shego back to pick up their car. The girls were a little disappointed that the trip was cut short but the disappointment itself was cut short when Shego offered to set up the tent in the backyard next to the Grotto so Gracie and the twins could spend the night outside. The girls would get to be on their own since Momma would have to remain inside to care for Mommy.

"Are you serious?" Kim gasped in surprise. "Gracie might have powers?"

With dinner in their bellies, the girls bolted out the door to restart their "camping trip", leaving the 'rents inside. Shego had been clearing away the dinner dishes when Kim had broached the subject of Wade's body scan of Gracie and how Gracie seemed to have made such a fantastic recovery. In all the chaos of their return home, Shego had completely forgotten about it and took a seat next to her wife so she could explain.

"That's how Wade explained it," Shego replied, putting her arm over her wife. "Gracie was in so much pain this morning because her body was going through changes on the cellular level. He's is positive that she's going to gain some kind of ability."

"And mom said puberty was difficult for ME," Good grief, something like this could only happen to a Possible. "She wants to go on missions so bad that there will be no living with her after this."

God in Heaven; was that ever going to be true! Gracie would tell anyone who would listen that she was going to be just like her mothers when she grew up. Shego could remember when Gracie was four and had tracked down Dr. Drakken when they were on vacation. While Abby and her parents were freaking out, Gracie and George were in Drakken's latest lair trying to defeat him. Remembering Shego's warnings about harming her daughter, Drakken was so petrified of Gracie that he was hiding under his desk from and surrendering to a four year old girl. As she'd gotten older, Kim and Shego had begun Gracie's training in various forms of martial arts and true to Gracie's ambitions, she was very much the daughter of Kim and Shego Possible, taking to training like a duck to water. Oh the pride Shego had felt when a six year old Gracie was able to take down four schoolyard bullies without even touching them.

"So did Wade say for sure when he'd be able to tell us more?" Kim asked, holding her wife's hand.

"He said he wouldn't be able to tell until her body settled back down," Shego looked out the window at Gracie playing Cat's Cradle with Emily and Zoë. "I'd say she's settled down enough for Wade to do another body scan." No time like the present. Best to get this out of the way now. "Gracie, could you come in here for a moment please?"

Gracie released Zoë's wrist from the string, told the girls to practice on each other, and ran off towards Shego and into the house. Kim had moved to the living room and called for Gracie to sit down next to her. The oldest daughter plopped down next to her Mom, taking special care for Kim's propped up leg. Shego took a seat next to the pair and put her arm around Gracie.

"So you seem to be feeling better," Kim patted Gracie's knee.

"Lots better," Gracie nodded in agreement. "Sorry that you're not Mom."

"Oh don't worry about me," Kim laughed, pulling Gracie into a one-armed hug. "It'll take more than a broken leg to put your old Mom on the sidelines."

"Gracie, this morning your Mom had Uncle Wade do a body scan of you when you were in so much pain," Shego began, placing her hand on Gracie's other knee. "While you were sleeping, Uncle Wade got ahold of me and told me what he thought was wrong."

"So…what is it?" Gracie asked. Neither Mom nor Momma was acting scared or upset at all but there was definitely something big that they were hesitant to mention. What was going on here?

"Well…you remember last month when Momma and I had that conversation with you about how you're becoming a woman?" Kim asked. Gracie nodded in agreement. "Well according to Uncle Wade, there's a little bit more to it that Momma and I told you. It looks like…well we may as well come out and say it. Gracie, we think you've inherited…powers…from your Momma."

"I'm…I get…" Gracie gasped, her head darting from one parent to another, a big smile creeping up on her face. "I can hurl plasma like Momma?"

"Well…no," Shego smiled weakly. Here we go! Now she'd be BEGGING to go on missions. "No; we're certain that isn't the case. No one's really sure what's going to happen. But Gracie, this is very important. Until we know more, the only ones who can know about this are us." Shego turned Gracie's head and gave her a very serious look. "We need to keep this a secret. Can you do that for your mom and me, Gracie Anne Possible? Pinkie promise?" Kim and Shego held out their pinkie fingers towards Gracie. Gracie looked at both her parents. They were really serious about this!

"Okay Momma," Gracie sighed and locked pinkie fingers with her mothers. "I double pinkie promise I won't tell anyone." Gracie relaxed when she saw Kim and Shego smile and plant kisses on Gracie's cheeks. "I wonder what kind of powers I'm going to have!"

"Good grief," Kim laughed as she tousled Gracie's hair. "My daughter, the superhero. Hey superhero? How about scratching my leg for me?" Kim dug out the bent hanger she'd been using.

Shego laughed at the two of them and got up from the couch to check on the younger Possible girls. They were still playing Cat's Cradle outside the tent. She really felt like having a cup of tea and heading upstairs to do some work on her new quilt. She'd filled the kettle with water and was searching for her favorite box of mint tea when she heard Kim give a sharp intake of breath. Gracie was backing away from her mother as if she had hurt her.

"Kimmie, what…"Shego began.

"Shego…the pain is…my leg," Kim exhaled, running her hands over her sprained ankle. "Gracie, I…I think we just found out your power." Kim hefted herself off the couch and began testing her leg gingerly, putting more and more weight on it. Kim moved from the living room to the kitchen without missing a beat. Dear God, her leg really HAD healed! All eyes turned back to Gracie, relieved that she hadn't hurt her mother. She'd found her gift! She'd found it and used it to help Mom!

"My baby," Shego sighed, tears beginning to fall as she walked right up and grabbing Gracie in a tight embrace. "My little healer."

_Author's Notes:_

_I thought I'd try doing a story all in one document instead of chapter by chapter, hence why this one took longer. How does it work? Anyway, I got the idea for this story after reading The Humbug's Around the Campfire. Kim was a nightmare when she tried coaching but I think she'd make a great Pixie Scout leader. A little like a general on a battlefield but a good Scout leader none the less. I'd discussed Gracie developing powers with Poetheather1 and we agreed that puberty would be the most likely time the powers would manifest themselves. I think it works so watch for the twins getting their meta-human on in later stories._

_Kim Possible and all associated characters are the copyrighted property of the Disney Corporation and the intellectual property of Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle. Grace Possible and George the Naked Mole Rat are the creations of Poetheather1._

_Star Wars Infinity is the copyrighted property of Dark Horse Publishing._


End file.
